it is a delight to have you here, rachel, and to have all of you here. it's a lovely summer evening, and it is getting hot out there. summer will now descend upon us. we have a special treat in store for you. as you probably have read and heard about recently the book rachel swarm was written "american tapestry." i am looking forward to hear hearing about the process of this book. to begin i think what the audience probably doesn't know is that we have a lot of support, kind of a community of behind-the-scenes players. starting with the genealogist then a fellowship and maybe just to get started let's talk about the book itself and how we arrived at this amazing story. >> you know, i wrote a story in october of 2009 about the first lady's family. that became the genesis of this book. i am a journalist. this is my first book. this is a new experience for me. >> congratulations. >> thank you. [applause] really, when i thought to do this i kind of have this notion of, okay, i am embarking on you know he deep dive into american history in the first lady's fa